Gym Machines

Many have dual functions, allowing you to perform numerous exercises on just one piece of equipment. Consider your goals, experience and workout schedule when planning your multi-gym workout.

Who the Multi-Gym is For

While free-weights are often considered the best form of training for building muscle, beginners may benefit from fixed-weight machines, according to the trainer and bodybuilder Lee Hayward. Tools are easier to use, require less balance and coordination, and carry a lower risk of injury for someone starting out. When choosing your multi-gym, look for one that has at least one exercise for every major body part– your legs, chest, shoulders, back, and arms.

Total-Body Workout

With a multi-gym, however, you’re limited in exercise selection, which makes full-body training a better option. Most multi-gyms will have all of these, but if not, work in a substitute exercise such as shoulder presses instead of lateral raises or machine rows instead of chin-ups.

Make the Most of Your Time

For a twist on a basic multi-gym workout, trainer Joe Wuebben of Muscle and Fitness recommends a timed circuit. You’ll pick six exercises and perform each for five minutes, getting a maximum number of reps but resting as needed. Perform chest presses, leg presses, lat pull-downs or seated rows, cable pushdowns, machine preacher curls and machine lateral raises.

The Details

Hire a trainer to help you learn the techniques required for performing multi-gym exercises if you’re new to weight training. Additionally, if you’re using a home multi-gym, make sure it’s installed and set up correctly before you use it. The way multi-gyms are designed allows you to make small weight increments, so aim to lift a bit heavier or increase your reps on every exercise in each workout.

The type of available activities depends on the particular model of the machine, but most equipment enables workouts for all of the major muscle groups. When you design a home gym workout, give priority to exercises that work for more than one muscle group simultaneously.

Upper Back Exercises

If you work at an office or spend most of your day hunched over a computer, you might have a muscular imbalance between your chest and back muscles. Two home gym exercises– the lat-pulldown and the seated row– address these muscular imbalances.

Chest Exercises

The chest press feature engages your pectoral muscles, which support proper breathing. Your triceps in the backs of your arms assist your pectoral muscles as you straighten your arms. Some home-gym resistance training gyms come with adjustable benches, which let you work your pectoral muscles from the incline position, to work your upper chest, and the decline position, to work your lower pectoral muscles.

Abdominal Workouts

A cable-based home gym machine lets you add resistance to your abdominal workouts. Cable home gym machines also facilitate standing wood chop exercises, which simulate the rotary movements used in various sports.

Aerobic Exercise

With a multi-gym, however, you’re limited in exercise selection, which makes full-body training a better option. Most multi-gyms will have all of these, but if not, work in a substitute exercise such as shoulder presses instead of lateral raises or machine rows instead of chin-ups.

When choosing your multi-gym, look for one that has at least one exercise for every major body part– your legs, chest, shoulders, back and arms.

Most home gyms allow either aerobic, or resistance training exercise, but some machines facilitate both. Jump rope for 10 minutes in between each strength training exercise.

If you’re new to weight training, hire a trainer to help you learn the techniques required for performing multi-gym exercises. The way multi-gyms are designed allows you to make small weight increments, so aim to lift a bit heavier or increase your reps on every exercise in each workout.

If you are like me you know that most machines and free weights at the gym function differently and serve different purposes. There are a few pieces of equipment are flexible enough to provide an overall workout mostly, or even entirely, by themselves. Using one piece of equipment can save you time at the gym and keep your entire body in shape.

Rowing Machine

Treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes all get your heart rate up while working muscles mostly in your lower body. Used properly, the rowing machine provides a cardio workout while hitting every major muscle group. Because it uses so many muscles, the rower is a significant calorie burner– 210 in 30 minutes at a moderate pace for a 124-pound person, according to Harvard Health Publications.

Medicine Ball Versatility

For toss-ups, start in a squat position with the ball between your legs, then bring your extended arms up as you thrust to a jump, working your entire body with an emphasis on your thighs and butt. Starting with the ball held overhead and arcing your extended arms down to the outside of one foot works your core– particularly your obliques. Doing pushups with both hands on the ball will emphasize your triceps while requiring core work to balance.

Pulleys and cables

While many cable machine exercises target specific muscles, you can work your body head-to-toe in just one place. On the low setting, use the rope for hammer curls or exchange it for a bar attachment to work your biceps. Use the ankle strap attachment to work your outer and inner thighs or face the pulley and curl your leg back to work your hamstrings.

Stability Balls

Stability balls add an element of balance– and consequently core work– to just about any exercise. Stability ball supermans work your back muscles. Elevating your feet on the ball adds challenge to pushups, while resting your forearms on the ball makes for a tougher plank.

For toss-ups, start in a squat position with the ball between your legs, then bring your extended arms up as you thrust to a jump, working your entire body with an emphasis on your thighs and butt. Starting with the ball held overhead and arcing your extended arms down to the outside of one foot works your core– particularly your obliques. Use the ankle strap attachment to work your outer and inner thighs or face the pulley and curl your leg back to work your hamstrings. Stability balls add an element of balance– and consequently core work– to just about any exercise. Stability ball supermans work your back muscles.

There is a long and heated argument going on for decades now about the pros and cons of gym machines. If you were ever in the gym, you might have already heard this conversation. The truth is, there is no right or wrong exercise, just the way you do it. Machines can be perfect for beginners and for isolating specific muscles or muscle groups. So, how to know?

Leg Press

Don’t skip the leg day, lads! Squats are the king, and they are one of the universal exercises seen in every corner of the world. Still, leg press machines give out great support, isolation, and comfort. Many people dislike doing squats under weights. The reasons go from knee injuries to back rod displacement, but no matter what it is – leg press will always wait for you.

Lat Machine

Named after the latissimus dorsi muscle they prominently engage, these machines are your gateway to pull-ups. If you, like many new members of the gym, can’t muster the strength for more than two pull-ups this is the place where you train.

Cable Biceps Bar

The pros often overlook this machine, and you are unlikely to see a veteran use it a lot. Still, this tool is fantastic for beginners both in technique and the weight. With a simple construction allowing you to change the weight, it is ideal for testing your limits. It also provides the cable pulling system which disables you from cheating. This will engage your biceps far more than the dumbbell.

Cable Triceps Bar

Pretty much the biceps machine, with another cog enabling you to push down rather than pulling up. Triceps are a tricky muscle group, and it is always a lot of fun working on them. Triceps pushdown machine will allow you to engage hard to get muscles while keeping the form and learning to train properly.

Chest Press

Just like the bench press, your chest will feel the burn. What is different – with the press machine, you get the stability of the machine and a perfect playground for exploring. Bench pressing, particularly in the very start can be dangerous if you get careless. Learning your limits this way is a better and safer solution.

Row Machine

Rowing simulator is a must have in every gym in the world – and for an excellent reason. This simple device engages almost every muscle in your body. Your entire core will be searing, and your back will have the training of their life. While it isn’t exactly like running, the calories melted away on the rowing machine are sure to be noticed.

Leg Raise

Raising your leg up to your bellybutton while hanging might seem like a hard thing to do, but only because it is. Still, after a while, you will see how fun and beneficial this exercise can be. It both tones and strengthens your core and will give you a six pack if you keep at it.